Developing a deferred maintenance initiative for fault-tolerant flight control systems

A control actuation system that incorporates many of the salient features of both flight and propulsion control systems is used to illustrate the analytic techniques of a deferred maintenance initiative. This example system incorporates redundance management via fault detection, isolation, and reconfiguration schemes as reflected in the associated coverage parameters. Analysis shows how each component of the system can be classified according to its impact on the system´s ability to maintain controlled operation. Time limits for deferred maintenance are determined. In order to realize such an initiative as a viable mode of operation, one must have a systematic method for establishing the system´s vulnerability. A tractable methodology for doing so is described and illustrated